Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 98,873 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 4.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,427,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 98,873 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $70,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 6.1% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 72,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 12.1% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 274,775 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,626,000 after purchasing an additional 29,688 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 105,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after buying an additional 30,472 shares during the period. Finally, Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 65,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after buying an additional 29,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa America raised Pfizer from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Pfizer in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.92.

Pfizer Stock Performance

NYSE PFE opened at $25.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.52. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.42. Pfizer had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $17.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. Pfizer’s quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio is 227.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.24 per share, with a total value of $28,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,400. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.